In most cases, the common cause for tooth discolouration is external staining as a result of drinking coffee, tea, or wine, or from smoking and other tobacco use.
Consuming Certain Foods and Drinks
Other teeth-staining foods include coffee, citrus fruits and juices, soft drinks, teas, berries, tomato-based sauces, curry, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce. Ingredients in these foods can seep into your enamel (the outermost covering of your teeth) and cause discoloration.
What Can Be Done to Whiten Yellow Teeth? If you're looking for a radical change in the coloring of your teeth, you need professional-grade whitening to get the job done. Your cosmetic dentist can provide treatment that penetrates deep into the enamel and removes years of stains with a powerful bleaching agent.
Yellow or discolored teeth can be unattractive causing teeth to look prematurely aged, or dirty. Patients with discolored teeth may feel embarrassed of their smile and hide their smile in photos or while laughing. White, bright smiles can help patients feel more confident in professional and personal interactions.
If your teeth and gums aren't in the best shape or if you've had a lot of previous dental work, both issues can affect your results with traditional teeth whitening treatments. You won't be able to whiten either porcelain crowns or most commonly used dental bonding materials.
Even with daily brushing, certain foods and drinks can cause stained teeth. For example, frequently drinking coffee, tea and wine can all lead to yellow teeth. In addition, even regular brushing cannot always combat yellow teeth caused by smoking cigarettes.
Brushing your teeth is meant to remove harmful bacteria and plaque but not to whiten them. As recommended by your dentist, brushing twice a day is vital because it prevents cavities and tooth decay. Brushing alone will not whiten your teeth, though, and even whitening toothpaste only has a minimal effect on your teeth.
Thankfully, yellow teeth aren't forever. Not only can your teeth be whitened, but you can also adopt habits that keep them looking good. Use this blog to learn about why teeth become yellow, how you can fix them, and what you can do to prevent future discoloration.
Their Permanent Teeth Are Starting to Come in
If your child is about 6-7 years old and their permanent teeth have started to erupt, you may notice that their permanent teeth look quite a bit more yellow than their baby teeth.
Natural Enamel Thickness & Translucency
Enamel is on the surface of every tooth and it has a natural hue of white. However, the underlying dentin layer has a slightly yellowish color. This yellowish hue shows through the enamel in almost everyone, but more so for those with naturally thinner or more translucent enamel.
Non-White or Yellow Teeth are Unhealthy
Teeth whitening treatments usually work by stripping or entering the outer enamel layer, which makes teeth weaker if done many times. So, more often than not, yellow teeth are actually stronger than pearly white ones–so long as they're cleaned regularly.
For about two to six weeks, you can use dentist-recommended whitening toothpaste and brush twice a day. You can use a certified whitening mouthwash which usually takes about three months to produce visible results.
When used twice a day, whitening toothpaste can take from two to six weeks to make teeth appear whiter. Whitening toothpastes that contain blue covarine can have an immediate effect.
A 2018 study revealed that using whitening toothpaste can whiten your teeth. These kinds of toothpaste have mild abrasive that are tough on surface stains while being gentle enough for safety. For better results, use an electric brush to remove surface stains.
They are actually covered by thin sheets of resin or porcelain called veneers. These tiny scale-like items can be used to reshape teeth, make crooked teeth look straight, or make naturally off-white teeth look impeccably white.
Brush with baking soda
Baking soda has natural whitening properties, which is why it's a popular ingredient in commercial toothpaste. It's a mild abrasive that can help scrub away surface stains on teeth ( 10 , 11 ).
There is no expiry date on self-esteem, so as you get older, it's just as important to feel good about yourself and your appearance. Teeth whitening treatment is a big step towards a more confident, happier you, and it's never too late to bring out those pearly whites!
The quickest, most dramatic way to whiten is to get an in-office bleaching at a dentist's office. Using professional-strength hydrogen peroxide and special lights or lasers, your dentist can remove even deep stains in about an hour. It'll cost you, though—probably between $500 and $1,200.
Tooth Brushing Isn't Meant to Whiten Teeth
Brushing twice a day (or more if recommended by a dentist) is essential, as it removes plaque and prevents cavities. The bristle action of a toothbrush won't whiten teeth, though, and even whitening toothpastes can only have a limited effect on the surface of teeth.
Professional teeth whitening treatment typically takes three to four weeks.
As we said above, it's perfectly normal for teeth to turn yellow due to age, diet, or lifestyle choices. Yellow teeth are not unhealthier than white teeth. However, yellowing can be a sign of poor oral hygiene or infection in the mouth.
Having yellow teeth can be embarrassing, but doesn't necessarily mean that your teeth are unclean or unhealthy. Rather than worrying about your dental cleaning routine, you should instead focus on the products that you eat, drink and smoke.
Reader's Digest quoted Adriana Manso, a clinical professor in UBC's faculty of dentistry, for an article about how whitening agents weaken teeth. He said “bleaching products contain hydrogen peroxide that diffuses through the enamel.
Symptoms of tooth decay
tooth sensitivity – you may feel tenderness or pain when eating or drinking something hot, cold or sweet. grey, brown or black spots appearing on your teeth. bad breath. an unpleasant taste in your mouth.